


























































Class_Q.ia H |_ 

Book_ .NfQ-M 

ft 

Copyright hi 0 _ 

Os— 0 — 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSifc VI 














































































She 

Van ^ensselaers 

of the 

yv^AKO^ Of 

f^eKSSSLAe^wyen- 



t ‘T1 *' 




Copyright in 1888, By MAY KING VAN RENSSELAER, N. Y. 


SHU 

VAN 

OF THE 

MAHO^ Of 


T HE Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rens- 
selaerswyck, have for over two hundred years 
held an important position in the history of 
America. Coming here, as they did, as founders of a 
colony, who acknowledged no superior power on this 
side of the ocean, they were actually sovereigns on their 
own domains. Before coming to America, the Van 
Rensselaers were people of importance in Holland, 
respected, and honoured by their countrymen ; they 
held many positions of trust, and their name figures 
constantly as Burgomasters, Councillors, Treasurers, 
etc., in many of the important towns of their native 
country. The picture of Jan Van Rensselaer, which 
still hangs in the Orphan Asylum at Nykerk, repre- 





4 


sents him as a Jonkheer or Nobleman in the distin¬ 
guishing dress of his class. Over the heads of the 
Regents in this picture, hang small shields on which 
are displayed their coats of arms, making it perfectly 
easy to identify Jonkheer Van Rensselaer, as these arms 
are identical with those borne by the family at the pres¬ 
ent day. An interesting tradition with regard to these 
arms exists, which however rests on no reliable founda¬ 
tion. It is said that on some festive occasion, a grand 
illumination was displayed in Holland. The Van 
Rensselaer of that day ordered large iron baskets 
(which represented his crest) to be filled with inflam¬ 
mable materials, and placed on the gate posts, house 
tops, and every prominent position of both city and 
country residences. This was done with such brilliant 
effect, as to call forth special commendation from the 
Prince of Orange who, according to the custom of 
the times, when favours were esteemed and given 
instead of money, and the highest one was an aug¬ 
mentation of any thing pertaining to the coat of arms, 
begged Van Rensselaer to henceforward adopt as his 
motto “Omnibus Effulgeo” or (“I outshine all,”) instead 
of the Dutch motto referring to the cross on the 
shield of “ Nieman Zonder,” or (“ No man without a 
cross).” The motto has been corrupted, and is usu¬ 
ally written “ Omnibus Effulgior,” but it has not been 
generally used by the Van Rensselaer family of late 
years, as being too arrogant for their simple tastes. 

The following extracts from a letter written by 
Eugene Schuyler (author of History of Russia, etc.), 
were published in The Albany Argus, Sept. 21st, 1879: 


5 


“ I went to Amersfoort, to Nykerk, and to several 
other towns in Guelderland. 

At Amersfoort, there is a Table in the Church of 
St. Joris or St. George on which is mentioned Harma- 
nus Van Rensselaer, as one of its Regents in 1639. 
Dr. is prefixed to his name which may mean Doctor 
of Laws, Divinity, or Medicine. There is also a tomb 
of a Captain Van Rensselaer who died from a wound 
received at the battle of Nieuport. This is covered 
by the wood flooring, and is not visible. 

In the Orphan Aslyum at Nykerk, there is a very 
fine picture of its first Regents, 1638. The picture is 
painted by Breecker in 1645. There are two noble¬ 
men in this picture Jan or Johannes Van Rensselaer 
and Nicholas Van Delen ; one of the four others is 
Ryckert Van Twiller, the father of Walter Van Twiller, 
who married the sister of Kiliaen the first Patroon. 
There are two other Van Rensselaers named, among 
the later Regents—Richard in 1753, and Jeremias in 
1803. 

The original Manor of the family from which the 
Van Rensselaers took their name is still called Rens¬ 
selaer, and is about three miles southeast of Nykerk. 

It was originally a Reddergoed, the possession of 
which conferred nobility. The last member of the 
family who bore the name was Jeremias Van Rens¬ 
selaer who died in Nykerk, April nth, 1819. He had 
married Julie Duval, and had no children, and in his 
will, he states that he had no heirs except the Van 
Rensselaer family then living in America. 

The estate of Rensselaerswyck is now only a farm, 


6 



all the old buildings have lately been taken down—they 
were covered with gables, and weathercocks of the arms 
and crest of the family, but all have now disappeared. 
There is scarcely a church in Guelderland that did not 
have somewhere the Van Rensselaer arms on the 
tombstones, either alone or quartered with others. 
The exact coat of arms is a white or silver cross, on a 
red ground. The crest is a white basket (not castle), 
with yellow flames, above a closed, or knight’s helmet. 

sj: $ ' a£ * $ 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer,* the founder of the colony 
of Rensselaerswyck in America, was a man of 
character and of substance. He was a merchant 
of Amsterdam, wealthy, and of high consideration, 
at a time when the merchants of Holland had 
become, like those of Italy, the princes of the 
land. He was a proprietor of large estates, and a 
director in the Dutch West India Company, which 
company having obtained a footing in America, insti¬ 
tuted a College of nine Commissioners in 1629, to 
take the superior direction and charge of the affairs 
of New Netherland. 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was a member of this Col¬ 
lege. A liberal charter of privileges to Patroons was 
obtained from the company, which provided for found¬ 
ing a landed and baronial aristocracy, for the pro¬ 
vinces of the Dutch in the New World. 

Early in 1630, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer sent an agent 
from Holland, to make his first purchase of land, from 

♦This sketch was compiled from O’Callaghan's History of the New Netherlands, 
and from the Hon. D. D. Barnard’s Memorial Address on the last Patroon, delivered 
before the Albany Institute, 1839. 



7 


the Indian owners, which purchase was sanctioned 
by the authorities of the Company at New Amster¬ 
dam, “who signed the instrument and "sealed it with 
the seal of the New Netherlands in red wax.’’ Other 
purchases were made for him up to the year 1637, 
when his full complement of land having been made 
up, viz: a tract of 24 miles in breadth by 48 miles in 
length containing over 700,000 acres, which now com¬ 
pose the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and part of 
Columbia, he himself came to America to take charge of 
his colony. All his colonists, numbering one hundred 
and fifty adult souls, were sent out at his own cost ; 
and as the charter required, the colony was planted 
within, four years, from the completion of his pur¬ 
chases. 

The power of Patroon, (the title given by the West 
India Charter to these Proprietors), was analogous to 
that of the old feudal barons, only acknowledging the 
States-General of Holland as their superiors. The 
Patroon maintained a high military and judicial author¬ 
ity, had his own fortresses, planted with his own can¬ 
non, (the original still in the possession of the Manor 
House family) manned with his own soldiers, with his 
own flag waving over them. The courts of the col¬ 
ony were his own courts,’where the gravest questions 
and the highest crimes were cognizable; but with ap¬ 
peals in the more important cases. Justice was ad¬ 
ministered in his own name. The colonists were his 
immediate subjects, and took the oath of fealty and 
allegiance to him. 

The position of the colony was one of great delicacy 


and danger, being surrounded by warlike tribes of sav¬ 
ages; but happily the Patroons of that period, and their 
Directors, by a strict observance of the laws of justice, 
and by maintaining a guarded conduct towards them, 
escaped those wars and conflicts, so common among the 
infant colonies of the country. But with the authori¬ 
ties at New Amsterdam, there were constant collisions ; 
and on one occasion it was so sharp, that Gov. Petrus 
Stuyvesant sent up an armed expedition to invade the 
Colony of Rensselaerswyck ; but fortunately his expe¬ 
dition was unsuccessful, and happily as bloodless as it 
was bootless. 

It is alleged that Kiliaen Van Rensselaer visited his 
Colony in person in 1637. If he ever did come, his 
stay in this country was not long. An order written 
to Arendt Van Corlear, (his Commissary-General and 
Colonial-Secretary,) with regard to the arrangement of 
some of his affairs in the Colonie of Rensselaerswyck, 
was signed in Amsterdam, September 10th, 1643, by 
Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, and sealed with his own and 
the Colonies seal. This order was sent to New 
Netherland in the Patroon’sship “The Arms of Rens¬ 
selaerswyck, " which was despatched with an assorted 
invoice of merchandise, valued at twelve thousand 
eight hundred and seventy guilders, (12,870 guilders) 
and was intended for the use of his Colony. 

In 1664 great changes took place; the English con¬ 
quered the province which had hitherto belonged to 
the Dutch, and the Colony of Rensselaerswyck fell, 
with that of New Amsterdam; but the English Gov¬ 
ernors confirmed the claims and privileges of Rens- 


9 


selaerswyck when the Provinces passed under British 
rule. 

In 1685, the Dutch Colony of Rensselaerswyck was 
converted and created into a regular lordship or man¬ 
or, with all the privileges belonging to an English 
estate and jurisdiction of the manorial kind. To the 
Lord of the Manor Kiliaen the 5th Patroon, was 
expressly given authority to administer justice within his 
domain “ in both kinds, in his own court-leet and court 
baron ” Other large privileges were conferred on 
him; and he had the right with the freeholders and 
inhabitants of the Manor, to a separate representation 
in the Colonial Assembly. All these rights continued 
unimpaired down to the time of the war of the Revo¬ 
lution. 

The first Patroon, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, was twice 
married, and had nine children—five sons and four 
daughters—all of whom survived him, and according 
to the laws of Holland, shared equally his estates. 
He died in 1646. His first wife was Hellegonda Van 
Bylet, by whom he had one son Johannes, who mar¬ 
ried his cousin Elizabeth Van Twiller. 

Johannes Van Rensselaer was the 2d Patroon, and 
died young leavng one son Kiliaen, and one daughter. 

During the non-age of Kiliaen, the estate in 
America was managed by his uncle, Jan Baptist Van 
Rensselaer, who was made “ Director of the Estate.” 
Young Kiliaen married his cousin Anna Van Rensselaer, 
and died in 1687, at Watervliet, New York, without 
children. This Anna remarried William Nichol. 

Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer, the son of the first 


IO 


Patroon by his second wife Anna Van Wely, 
married his cousin Susan Van Wely. He was 
for many years Director of the Manor of Rens- 
selaerswyck, and finally returned to Holland about 
1656, where he became one of the leading merchants 
of Amsterdam, and died in 1678. 

Jeremias Van Rensselaer, the third son of Kiliaen 
the first Patroon, succeeded his brother Jan Baptist 
as Director of the Colonie in 1658, and for sixteen 
years administered its affairs with great prudence and 
discretion. He was much respected by the French, 
and wielded an influence over the Indians which was 
only surpassed by that of Van Corlear. On account 
of the inaccuracies of the boundaries, etc., considerable 
difficulties were experienced in obtaining a patent for 
the Manor from the Duke of York, upon the change 
of Government from the Dutch to the English rule. 
To obviate the trouble, some persons of influence ad¬ 
vised Jeremias, the “ Director,” to take out a Patent 
in his own name, he being qualified to hold real estate, 
having become a British subject. To his great honour, 
it is recorded that he rejected the advice, saying: “He 
was only co-heir, and could not thus defraud his sis¬ 
ters and brothers.” 

In 1664, Jeremias Van Rensselaer was elected 
Speaker of the Representative Assembly of the 
Province. The first question which engaged the 
attention of this Assembly, was that of the Presi¬ 
dency. New Amsterdam claimed the honour as the 
Capital, and Rensselaerswyck as the oldest colonie. 
The right of the latter was admitted, and the 


Hon. Jeremias Van Rensselaer took the chair, under 
protest. 

He was a man of great industry, and communicated 
to Holland an account of various occurrences in this 
country under the name of “The New Netherland 
Mercury.” His correspondence from 1656 to his 
death, still in good preservation, affords a valuable 
and interesting commentary on private and public 
affairs, and contains a relation of facts and incidents 
which otherwise would be irreparably lost. 

He died on the 12th October, 1674, and was 
followed to the grave by a large concourse of 
mourners. 

Nicolaus Van Rensselaer, the eighth child of Kiliaen 
the 1 st Patroon, was a clergyman of the Dutch 
Reformed Church. On being introduced to Charles 
II, then in exile at Brussels, he prophesied the restor¬ 
ation of the Monarch to the throne of England, which 
circumstance afterwards obtained for him a cordial 
reception at the Court of St. James, when he visited 
London as Chaplain to the Dutch Embassy. In 
acknowledgment of the truth of the prediction, the 
King presented him with a snuff-box, (This royal relic 
is now in the possession of the Manor House Van 
Rensselaer family at Albany.) 

Upon coming to America, the Dutch Church looked 
upon him with suspicion, fearing he was Papist, as one 
having been ordained in England as Presbyter by 
Bishop Salisbury, and declared he had nothing to do 
with their Church, without a certificate from their 
classis. 


12 


Dr. Rensselaer produced his papers and certificates 
—that of his ordination as deacon and as Presbyter 
by the Bishop of Salisbury ; His Majesty’s allow¬ 
ance of him under his Signet to be a Minister, 
and to preach to the Dutch Congregation at 
Westminister; two certificates of his being Chaplain 
to the Ambassador Extraordinary from the States 
of Holland, and also of having officiated in a church 
in London as Lecturer; and the Duke of York’s 
recommendation of him to the present Governor in 
this country. 

The Governor called a council to decide the matter, 
asking the opposing Ministers, why Dr. Van Rensselaer 
should not be considered capable of administering 
the sacraments of the Church, etc., etc, The Ministers 
recalled their previous views and brought in a paper 
“ amended, with all Submission.” 

Rev. Nicolaus Van Rensselaer married Alida Schuy¬ 
ler, daughter of Philip (Pieterse) Schuyler. He died 
in 1678 without children, and his widow married 
Robert Livingston, first Proprietor of Livingston 
Manor. 

Ryckert, the youngest son of Kiliaen the 1st Pat- 
roon, was for many years one of the magistrates of 
Albany, and also Director of the Colonie after the death 
of his brother Jeremias. He married in Holland 
Anna Van Beaumont. 

He owned the Bowerie called “ The Flatts,” four 
miles north of Albany, which on his return to Holland 
in 1670, he sold to Philip Schuyler. He was at one 
time Treasurer and also Burgomaster of Vianen, and 


13 


died about 1695, having five sons and five daughters, 
only one son and three daughters being married. 

Three of the daughters of the first Kiliaen died 
unmarried. These were Maria. Hellegonda and 
Eleanora, Susanna, the fourth daughter, married Jan 
de la Court, and lived and died in Holland. The 
memory of Anna Van Wely, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer’s 
second wife, and the mother of many of his children, 
has been lately honoured in Holland on the occasion 
of the bi-centennial of the invention of the Thimble. 
This celebration took place in 1884, at Amsterdam, 
with much formality. The humble, but useful little 
article was first made by a goldsmith named Nicholas 
Van Benschoten, who presented the first one to Madam 
Van Rensselaer in 1684, begging her “ to accept this 
new covering for the protection of her diligent finger 
as a token of his esteem.” It was not till 1695 that 
thimbles were introduced into England, by a Dutchman 
named John Lofting. 

On the death of Jeremias Van Rensselaer, in 1674, 
the affairs of the Colonie of Rensselaerswyck were 
administered conjointly, during the minority of Kiliaen 
(then 12 years of age) by Dominie Nicolaus Van 
Rensselaer, Madame Maria Van Rensselaer, and Ste- 
phanus Van Cortlandt. Nicolaus had the Director¬ 
ship of the Colonie, Madame Van Rensselaer was the 
Treasurer, and Stephanus Van Cortlandt had the 
charge of the books. Dominie Nicolaus dying in 1678, 
the chief management of the Minor’s affairs devolved 
on his mother and uncle. Madame Maria Van Rens¬ 
selaer was the daughter of Oloff Van Cortlandt and 


H 


Ann Lockermans, and married Jeremias Van Rens¬ 
selaer'* in 1662. She died in 1689, fifteen years after 
his death, leaving three sons, Kiliaen, Johannes, and 
Hendrick, and two daughters, Anna and Maria. Jo¬ 
hannes died unmarried. From these two brothers, 
Kiliaen and Hendrick, have sprung all the descend¬ 
ants of the Van Rensselaer name in this country. 

The heirs of the first Patroon held his estate in com¬ 
mon until 1695, nearly fifty years after his death. At 
that time all his children, except Rykert and his daugh¬ 
ter Eleonora, were dead. In 1695, negotiations were 
entered into with Kiliaen of Albany, (son of Jeremias, 
deceased), and the heirs in Holland, for a settlement of 
their grandfather’s estate. On the 25th of Nov., 1695, 
the settlement was completed and the legal paper ex¬ 
ecuted. The Hollander attorney for Rykert, Eleonora, 
and for the children of Susanna, deceased, released to 
the American for himself, and as attorney for his 
brothers Johannes and Hendrick, and for his sisters 
Anna and Maria, all the Manor of Rensselaerswyck 
“containing 700,000 acres of tillable land,” all the 
Claverack tract of 60,000 acres except three farms, 
and all the personal property except “ 700 pieces of 
eight (or $700).” The American released to the 
Hollanders all the estate real, personal, and con¬ 
tingent in Holland, of which the Crailo estate, and a 
tract of land in Guelderland, formed a part. 

Four of the nine children of the 1st Patroon had 
died without heirs ; his widow was also dead ; conse¬ 
quently the estate was divided into five parts ; one for 
the family in America, and the other four for the heirs 


i5 


in Holland. Measuring the whole estate by our con¬ 
ception of the value of that in America, we should be 
likely to form an erroneous judgment as to its amount. 
Land here at that time was very cheap, hundreds of 
acres could be bought from the Indians for trinkets. 
The whole estate measured by the sum which the 
Hollanders stipulated to pay to Eleonora Van Rens¬ 
selaer ($800) was not large in the modern sense, 
but 40 cents at that time were equal to several gold 
dollars now. 

In 1704, a charter from Queen Anne confirmed the 
estate to Kiliaen, the eldest son of Jeremias (third 
son of the original Patroon, the oldest having died 
without issue). The estate came to him by inherit¬ 
ance, according to the canons of descent established 
by the law of England. 

Kiliaen was the first Lord of the Manor of Rens- 
selaerswyck, which he represented in the Provincial 
Assembly from 1691 to 1703, when he was called to 
the Council. 

In 1704, he conveyed the lower Manor Claverack, 
with the Crailo estate at Greenbush, to his younger 
brother Hendrick, as his share of his grandfather’s es¬ 
tate. He married his cousin, Maria Van Cortlandt, in 
1701, by whom he had six sons and four daughters. 

His eldest son Jeremias, born 1705, died unmarried 
in 1745. He had survived his father, and was conse¬ 
quently the 5th Patroon. His brother Stephen 
(Kiliaen’s second son) became the 6th Patroon. This 
Stephen was born in 1707, and married, in 1729. Eliz¬ 
abeth Groesbeck. He died in 1747, leaving a daughter, 


i6 


Elizabeth, married to General Abraham Ten Broeck ; 
and one son Stephen, who being a minor at his 
father’s death, was left under the guardianship of his 
brother-in-law General Ten Broeck, who managed 
his affairs with much judgment. 

Abraham Ten Broeck was descended from one of 
the old families of the Colony of New York. His 
father was for many years Recorder, and then Mayor 
of Albany. In 1753, he married the only sister of the 
Patroon Stephen lid. He was called early into pub¬ 
lic life, and was for many years a member of the As¬ 
sembly under the Colonial Government, and at the 
commencement of the American War, was made 
Colonel of the Militia, Member of the Provincial Con¬ 
gress of 1775, delegate to the State Convention in 

1776, of which he was made President. Early in the 
contest, he was made Brigadier-Ceneral of the militia, 
and rendered memorable service in the campaign of 

1777. He was a member of the State Senate, Mayor 
of the city, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and President of the Bank of Albany. His virtues in 
private life equalled the excellence of his public char¬ 
acter. He died January 19th, 1810. 

The second Stephen Van Rensselaer, born 1742, mar¬ 
ried in January, 1764, Catherine Livingston, daughter 
of Philip Livingston (Signer of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence), and Christiana Ten Broeck. He built the 
present Manor House, which was completed in 1765, 
and which he was spared to enjoy only four years, 
as he died of consumption in 1769, leaving two sons 
and one daughter—Stephen, Philip, and Elizabeth. 


17 


Philip, the second son, born 1766, married in 1787, 
Anne de Peyster Van Cortlandt, daughter of General 
Philip Van Cortlandt. They had no issue. He was May¬ 
or of the city of Albany longer than any other Mayor 
before or since, having served seventeen years in that 
office. He was also President of the Bank of Al¬ 
bany, and was a public man holding many positions. 
He died in 1824, 

His sister, Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, born 1768, 
married in 1787, John Bradstreet Schuyler, son of Gen¬ 
eral Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer, 
by whom she had one son, Philip Schuyler. She 
married secondly, in i8od, John Bleecker, by whom 
she had one daughter who married Cornelius Glen 
Van Rensselaer, and several sons who died unmarried. 

Stephen Van Rensselaer, the eldest son of Stephen 
Van Rensselaer and Catherine Livingston, was born 
1764, in the city of New York, at the house of his grand¬ 
father, Philip Livingston. His father having died, the care 
of his education devolved largely upon Mr. Livingston, 
who placed him at school in Elizabethtown, N. J.;but the 
stirring times of the Revolution came on, and Mr. Liv¬ 
ingston was driven, with his family, from the city of 
New York, and took refuge in Kingston. This place 
possessed a teacher of great scholarship, under whose 
care the young Stephen Van Rensselaer fitted him¬ 
self for college. He went to Princeton, under the cele¬ 
brated Dr. Witherspoon ; but at that time New Jersey 
was not safe from the incursions of the war, and so the 
young collegian was removed to Harvard University, 
Cambridge. 


In 1782 he took his degree as Bachelor of Arts, 
and here it may be mentioned that in 1825, he received 
from Yale College a diploma conferring upon him the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Before he was 
twenty years of age, he married Margaret Schuyler, 
daughter of General Philip Schuyler. By this marriage 
there were two children; a daughter, Catherine Schuyler, 
who died at twelve years of age, and a son Stephen. 

The Patroon, after his marriage devoted himself to 
the care of his estates, and shortly after received 
his first military commission, as a Major of infantry 
in 1786,. and two years later was promoted to the 
command of a regiment. 

In 1801, Governor Jay directed the cavalry of the 
State to be formed into a separate corps, divided from 
the infantry. The Patroon was appointed to the com¬ 
mand of this division with two brigades. This com¬ 
mission of Major-General, he bore to his death. In po¬ 
litical life he was in the Assembly or Senate from 
1788 to 1795. In this latter year, he was elected Lieu¬ 
tenant-Governor with John Jay as Governor, The 
same election took place in 1798, when he had no op¬ 
posing candidate. 

In 1801, General Van Rensselaer was nominated as 
candidate for Governor. With what difficulty his ac¬ 
ceptance was finally obtained, appears from the publi¬ 
cations of the times. Mr. Clinton was brought for¬ 
ward as his opposing candidate. Mr. Clinton was 
very popular, and deservedly so; and in the midst of the 
campaign in this State, the election of Mr. Jefferson to 
the Presidency was announced, and the fate of parties 


19 


in this State was decided for a long time to come. 
Mr. Van Rensselaer was defeated by a small majority 
of less than four thousand votes. It was at this time, 
while the election canvas was going on most actively, 
that the wife of his youth was called from him. By 
this marriage, he had three children--two sons and 
one daughter. 

In 1802, he married again, his second wife being 
Cornelia Paterson, only daughter of William Paterson, 
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and the second Governor of the State of New 
Jersey. In 1810, General Van Rensselaer was ap¬ 
pointed one of seven gentlemen, to explore a route 
for the great internal State improvement—the Erie 
Canal. After the war with England in 1812, the 
commission was resumed; and in April 1816, the law 
was passed for its creation. General Van Rensselaer 
was President of the Board from 1824 until his death 
in 1839. 

It was in the year 1810, that General Van Rensselaer 
lost his venerated mother. Several years after the 
death of her husband the Patroon Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, Mrs. Van Rensselaer had married 
Dominie Eilardus Westerlo, Pastor of the Dutch 
Church, an eminent divine, a fine scholar, and a Hol¬ 
lander of distinguished bearing and attractive man¬ 
ners. 

By this marriage, she had one son and daughter. 
Rensselaer who married Jane Lansing, daughter of 
Chancellor Lansing of Albany ; and Catherine, who 
married Judge John Woodworth. 


20 


In 1812, the war with Great Britain was declared. 
A requisition was made on Governor Tompkins, to 
order into immediate service, a considerable body of 
New York militia; and the Governor selected Major- 
General Stephen Van Rensselaer for the command. In 
one month from the date of the call, he was at Lewiston; 
and in just two months, on the 13th of October, he car¬ 
ried his victorious arms into the enemy’s territory, and 
planted the American flag triumphantly on the heights 
of Queenston. Unhappily, it was a triumph of short 
duration. He gained a complete and glorious victory, 
sufficient if maintained, to have secured the peninsula 
of Canada for the winter; but a victory, lost as 
soon as won, by the shameful cowardice and defection 
of his troops. With a mere handful of men, the 
heights were carried early in the morning, under the di¬ 
rection of his aide-de-camp and cousin, the brave Col. 
Solomon Van Rensselaer, and they remained in his 
possession till late in the day ; and could have been 
easily defended, but for the shameful refusal of his 
yeoman soldiery to advance farther. 

On one side, General Brock had fallen ; and on the 
other, Colonel Van Rensselaer was desperately wound¬ 
ed. The British General Sheaffe offered everything 
for the comfort of the wounded Colonel. General 
Van Rensselaer informed Ceneral Sheaffe that he 
should order a salute to be fired at his camp and at 
Fort Niagara, on the occasion of the funeral solemni¬ 
ties of the brave General Brock. General Sheaffe 
thanked him in these words: “ I feel too strongly 
the generous tribute which you propose to pay to my 


21 


departed friend and chief, to be able to express the 
sense I entertain of it. Noble-minded as he was, so 
would he have done himself/’ 

With this campaign, closed General Van Renssel- 
laer’s services in the field. 

In 1819 he was elected, by the Legislature, a Regent 
of the State University, and at the time of his death 
he was its Chancellor. 

In 1823, he first took his seat in Congress, and was 
continued there by three successive re-elections, retir¬ 
ing in 1829. In February, 1825, the ceremony of an 
election to the Presidency took place in the House of 
Representatives. His vote determined that of the 
delegation from this State in favor of Mr. Adams, and 
produced the election of Adams on the first ballot. 

In 1824, having provided a suitable building at 
Troy, Rensselaer County, and employed an agent to 
procure necessary apparatus and library, he requested 
Dr. Blatchford to act as President of a Board of Trus¬ 
tees whom he named, to inaugurate a school “ to 
qualify teachers to instruct the application of experi¬ 
mental chemistry, philosophy and natural history to 
agriculture, domestic economy, and the arts and man¬ 
ufactures.” In 1826, this school was incorporated and 
is now known as the Rensselaer Institute. 

In 1828, he liberally endowed it, and during four 
teen years sustained it at his own expense. After a 
long and useful life honoured by all who knew him, 
Stephen Van Rensselaer died at the Manor House, 
Albany, January 26, 1839, leaving a widow and ten 
children. 


t 










r* • 




* 






* 

















ARTOTYPES BY 

E. BIERSTADT, N. Y 































PORTRAITS 


OF THE 

Founders and Regents 

OF THE 

ORPHAN ASYLUM 

AT 

NYKERK, GUELDERLAND, HOLLAND. 


This Asylum was founded in 1638, and the original 
picture was painted by Breecker in 1645. 


Jonkheer Nicolaus Van Delen, 

Dr. Albertus Nyenhuys, 

Wouter Van Hennekeler, 
Ryckert Van Twiller, 
Jacob Van Fileun, 
Jonkheer Jan Van Rensselaer. 



































% 


























* 












/ 


» 










t 


< . 



( 















y 












n 

r 




















* 





V 





























4 






\ 


* 




SK \u#| |L ,\ iXBi '. 

'WmMWmgSft 

4?f > rTmfijAs-i tH1. ’ F?\. /.A* 1 m 

jRJWj % vwj* erf £& ij.1 ; , B 




»^hS f? » 





» • 



% 














Supposed to be 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer 

Son of 


HENDRICK VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 
MARIA PAS R A AT. 

Born 1637. 


From a Painting owned by 
Howard Van Rensselaer, Esq. M. D. 




















( Supposed to be ) 

ANNA Van Wely. 

Wife of 

KILIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and daughter of 
JOHAN VAN WELY, 
and his wife 


LEONORA HAECK 1 NS. 














































-• 



























Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer, 

Director of the 

MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK, 

Son of 

KILIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 
ANNA VAN WELV. 


From a Painting owned by 
Eugene Van Rensselaer, Esq. 





















t 





























•Jeremias Van Rensselaer 


Sixteen Years Director of the 
MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK, 

AND 

Third Son of 

KILIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

MARIA VAN COURTLANDT. 

Born 1705. Died Unmarried 1745. 


From a Painting owned by 
Bayard Van Rensselaer, Esq. 







































































<■« 
































( Supposed to be ) 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 

Son of 

JOHANNES VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

ELIZABETH VAN TWILLER. 

Born February 1687. Died at Watervliet. 


From a Picture owned by 
Mrs Crosby. 













( Supposed to be ) 

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 


Son of 

JOHANNES VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

ELIZABETH VAN TWILLER. 
Born February 1687. Died at Watervliet. 


From a Picture owned by 
Mrs Crosby. 

















Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 

Patroon of the 

MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK, 

AND 

First Lord of the Manor. 

Son of 

JEREMIAS VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

MARIA VAN COURTLANDT. 

Born August 24th, 1663. Married October 15th, 1701. 
Died 1719. 

From a Painting owned by 
Howard Van Rensselaer, Esq. M. D. 





























































I 







% 























MARIA VAN COURTLANDT, 

Wife of 

KILIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and daughter of 

STEPHANUS VAN COURTLANDT, 
and his wife 

GERTRUDE SCHUYLER. 

Born 1680. Married October 15th. 1701, 

Remarried Dominie John Mellen. 


From a Painting owned by 
Mrs. Crosby. 









































Stephen Van Rensselaer, I. 

Patroon of the 

MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK, 

Son of 

KILIAEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

MARIA VAN COURTLANDT. 

Bom 1707. Married 1729. Died 1747. 
ELIZABETH GROESBECK. 


From a Painting owned by 
Eugene Van Rensselaer, Esq. 



































Elizabeth Groesbeck, 


Wife of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAR I. 
and daughter of 
STEPHEN GROESBECK, 
and his wife 

ELIZABETH LANSING 
Born 1707. Married 1729. 

From a Painting owned by 
Mrs. Howard Townsend. 























Stephen Van Rensselaer, II. 


Patroon of the 

MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK, 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, I. 
and his wife 

ELIZABETH GROESBECK. 

Born 1742. Died at Watervliet October 19th, 1769. 


From a Painting owned by 
Eugene Van Rensselaer, Esq. 










t 
























































* • 






































































Catharine Livingston 

Wife of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, II. 
Daughler of 

PHILIP LIVINGSTON, 
and his wife 

CHRYSTIANA PEN BROECK. 

Born 1746. Married January 23rd. 1764. 

Died April 17th. 1810. 


Remarried Dominie 


Eilardus Westerlo. 















Stephen Van Rensselaer, III. 

Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, 

Major General of the United States Army, 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, II. 
and his wife 

CATHARINE LIVINGSTON. 


Born in New York, November ist, 1764. 










































MARGARET SCHUYLER, 


Wife of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III, 
Daughter of 

MAJ. GENERAL PHILIP JOHN SCHUYLER, 
and his wife 

CATHARINE VAN RENSSELAER. 

Born '758. Married 1783. Died 1801. 


From a Painting owned by 
Mrs Johnson. 

















































































» 



















♦ 



Philip Van Rensselaer, 

Mayor of Albany. 

Second Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III. 

And his wife 

CATHARINE LIVINGSTON. 

Born 1766. Died September 25th. 1824. 

Married ANNA VAN COURTLANDT, 1787. 


From a Picture owned by 
Mrs. Berry. 


















Stephen van Rensselaer, ill. 


From a Picture owned by 
William Bayard Van Rensselaer, Esq. 









































































































Cornelia Paterson. 

Second wife of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III 


and daughter of 
WILLIAM PATERSON 

Governor of New Jersey, Judge of the Supreme Court of 
The United States. 

and his wife 
CORNELIA BELL. 

Born 1780. Married 1802. Died 1844. 

Erom a miniature painted by Malbone, owned by 





























Stephen Van Rensselaer IV. 


From a Picture Painted when twenty one years of age. 
Owned by Mrs. Johnson. 













\ 






































































CATHARINE SCHUYLER VAN RENSSELAER, 

Daughter of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

MARGARET SCHUYLER. 

Born July 1784. Died April 26th. 1797. 

From a Painting owned by 


Mrs Barber 











































Stephen Van Rensselaer, IV. 

Patroon of the 

MANOR OF RENSSELAERSWYCK. 

Son of 

MAJOR GEN. STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, 
and his wife 

MARGARET SCHUYLER. 

Born 1789. Died 1868. 


From a Picture owned by 
Eugene Van Rensselaer, Esq. 

































































































* 











♦ 











































IV. 


Stephen Van Rensselaer. 


From a Picture Painted by Alexander. 
Owned by Mrs. Townsend. 

















Harriet Elizabeth Bayard, 

Wife of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER IV. 
and daughter of 
WILLIAM BAYARD, 
and his wife 

ELIZABETH CORNELL. 

Born 1799. Married 1817. Died 1875. 


From a miniature owned by 
Mrs. Crosby. 






















Catharine Van Rensselaer. 

Wife of 


GOUVERNEUR MORRIS WILKINS, 
and daughter of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born 1803. Married 1830. Died 1874. 


From a miniature owned by 
Mrs. Turnbull. 


































Catharine Van Rensselaer Wilkins. 


From a Painting owned by 


Mrs. Delafield. 
















* 

























* 













William Paterson Van Rensselaer. 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born March 6th. 1805. Died November 13th. 1872. 

From a miniature owned by 
Miss. Catharine Van Rensselaer, 


f 
























* 






























Philip S. van Rensselaer, 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born October 14th. 1806. Died June 1st. 1871. 


From a miniature owned by 
Miss. Cruger. 





















I 









Mary Rebecca Tallmadge. 

Wife of 

PHILIP S. VAN RENSSELAER, 
and daughter of 

GENERAL JAMES TALLMADGE. 

Born May 16th, 1817. Married October 7th. 1839. 
Died August 3rd. 1872. 


From a Painting by Annelli. 
Owned by J, Tallmadge Van Rensselaer, 































CORTLANDT VAN RENSSELAER. D. D. 

Son of 


STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born May 25th. 1808. Died July 25th. i860. 


From a miniature Painted by Rogers 1836 
Owned by Ledyard Van Rensselaer, Esq. M. I). 





















Catharine Ledyard Cogswell, 


wife of 

CORTLANDT VAN RENSSELAER, I). D. 
Daughter of 

MASON FITCH COGSWELL, M. D. 
and his wife 
MARY LEDYARD. 

Born September 22nd. 1811, Married September 13th. 1836. 
Died December 24th. 1882. 

From a miniature Painted by Anna Hall, 

Owned by Ledyard Van Rensselaer. Esq. M. D. 
























Colonel and Inspector General 

HENRY VAN RENSSELAER. 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born May ioth 1810. Died March 23rd 1864. 

From a miniature owned by 
Mrs. Henry Van Rensselaer. 


































Elizabeth Ray King, 


Wife of 

HENRY VAN RENSSELAER. 

And Daughter of 
JOHN ALSOP KING, 

Governor of the State of New York, 

And his wife 
MARY RAY 

Born August 17th 1815. Married August 22d 1833 


From a miniature painted by Anua Hall 



* 





































CORNELIA PATERSON VAN RENSSELAER. 

Wife of 

ROBERT TURNBULL, 
and daughter of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born July 8th. 1812. Married February i6th. 1847. 


From a Painting by Annelli. 
Owned by Miss Turnbull. 



















• / 


































































« 



/ 














Cornelia Van Rensselaer, 


and 

EUPHEMIA VAN RENSSELAER. 


From a sketch taken in Rome. 

Owned by Ledyard Van Rensselaer Esq. M. D. 











































ALEXANDER VAN RENSSELAER, 


Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 


Born 1814. 


Died 1878. 


























EUPHEMIA VAN RENSSELAER. 

Wife of 

JOHN C. CRUGER, 
and daughter of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON 
Born Sept. 25th 1816. Married May 2d 1843. 


Died May 27th 1888. 







































































Westerlo Van Rensselaer, 

Son of 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, III. 
and his wife 

CORNELIA PATERSON. 

Born 1820. Died Unmarried 1844. 


From a Painting owned by 
Mrs Alexander Van Rensselaer. 


























Westerlo Van Rensselaer. 


From a Painting owned by 
Mrs Berry. 



























































% 





















Philip Livingston 

Second Proprietor of the Manor of Livingston. 
Son of 

ROBERT LIVINGSTON. 

First Proprietor of the Manor. 

And his wife 
ALIDA SCHUYLER 
Widow of the 

Rev. NICHOLAS VAN RENSSELAER. 

Born in Albany 1686. Died Feb. 1749. 

Married KATHERINE VAN BRUGH, 
Daughter of 

PETER VAN BRUGH. 
and his Wife 


SARAH CRUGER, 













♦ 



« 
















Philip Livingston, II. 

Son of 

PHILIP LIVINGSTON, I. 
and his wife 

KATHARINE VAN BRUGH, 
Commonly called "The Signer," 

Born January 15th. 1716. Died June 12th. 1778. 

From a Painting in possession of 
S. Van Rensselaer Cruger. 





























t 


Christiana Ten Broeck. 

Wife of 

PHILIP LIVINGSTON, II. 


From a Painting owned by 
Miss Westerlo. 












































CHRISTIANA TEN Broeck. 

Wife of 

PHILIP LIVINGSTON, II. 

and daughter of 
RICHARD TEN BROECK, 
Recorder of Albany. 


From a Painting in possession of 
S. Van Rensselaer Cruger. 
















* 

* 










% 






















































































MAJ. Gen. PHILIP SCHUYLER 

Son of 

JOHANNES SCHUYLER, 
and his wife 

CORNELIA VAN COURTLANDT. 
Married 

CATHERINE VAN RENSSELAER, 
Daughter of 

JOHN VAN RENSSELAER, 
of the 

Claveraek Manor. 

From a miniature owned by 
Mrs Johnson 
























William Paterson, 


Second Governor of New Jersey, 
and 

Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
Son of 

RICHARD PATERSON. 

Born 1745. Died at Albany September 9th 1806. 
Married in 1779, 

CORNELIA daughter of JOHN BELL. 
























VIEW 

OP THE 

Van Rensselaer Manor house 

AT ALBANY, NEW YORK. 


Built 1765. 


Picture taken about 1839. 
























VIEW 


OF THE 


Manor house, 


in 1875 


rom a 


Photograph taken 









% 






















VIEW 

OF THE 


Manor house. 











































































. 


















‘ 














X. 


































































































. *1 






























































































































































































HALL. 


























































































































































. 




LIBRARY. 










/ 























. 



















# 












# 


































DRAWING ROOM. 









T~" 

RjI <1 W 

T 

§ 




^ “1 





am 





















































VIEW 


OF THE 

Garden 

BELONGING TO THE MANOR HOUSE. 


i^39- 







































































